Editorial Reviews

When a top local businessman (Joe Don Baker, WALKING TALL, THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS, CONGO), along with his two bumbling nephews (John Diehl of MIAMI VICE, John Voldstad of NEWHART), find out his daughter Patsy is hanging out at the video arcade run by Jefferson Bailey (Scott McGinnis, MAKING THE GRADE), they team up with Jefferson's arch enemy King Vidiot (Jonathan Gries, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE) to try and shut down the arcade. The arcade employees and patrons fight back, climaxing in an exciting video game showdown between Jefferson and King Vidiot! Now see this 80's teen comedy classic in widescreen!

What a great little gem of a film!!! Greydon Clark's 80's exploitation flick starring the one and only Joe Don Baker(Walking Tall,Mitchell,Final Justice,Cape Fear,Goldeneye) is finally on DVD!!! My VHS of this film wore out ions ago so I was thrilled find this classic now on DVD!!! If you like classic video game footage along with good comedy and nice heaping of T&A for good measure,than this movie is for you!!! Yes this is a low budget independent film,so the image and sound quality are a but rough,but I believe that's part of it's "charm",to clean it up too much would ruin the "feel" of the film!!! A true blast from the past!!! PS,If only "Tilt" (the pinball movie,NOT the TV show!) were available on DVD,hey maybe one day!,until then we now have this clasic to enjoy again!!! Two thumbs up!!! Way Up!!! Five stars!!! A+

I owned the Liberation dvd for a couple years, and this new release from Scorpion Releasing is worth buying it again. I hate re-buying movies, but the upgrade in color and picture are worth it. The Liberation dvd is hardly even watchable. with the new dvd, it's like watching a whole new movie......a movie thats actually good!

This is a fun trip down memory lane if your in to the like totally awesome 80's,or the early days of gaming, the movie was not as good as I remembered it to be, its really goofy and cheesy, and was an independent movie even back then, but it did take me back to the days of the first arcades, when in my town at least, it was a really underground thing, the arcade close to my house was actually a nondescript door in a self storage lot, where you entered in to complete darkness except for the glow of the games lining the walls exposing the mass of paisty teens with mullets reeking of b.o. and herb. I was disappointed with the transfer or print quality with this one, I wish they had remastered it better, I don't think they made any effort at all, and extras would have been fun for this as well, but I doubt this will make it to Blu Ray and will probably be out of print in the next year, so I'll take what I can get.

Joysticks, you either love this movie or you hate it. I was a teenager in the 1980's, arcade games were fun and they kept me out of trouble. I'd cut grass all week after school and then I'd hit up to the local arcade for a little video game action on the weekends. My favorite games were Space Invaders, Galaxian and Pac-Man of course.

Patsy Rutter and her friends are constantly hanging out at the local video arcade run by Jefferson Bailey much to the displeasure of Patsy's father, local businessman Joseph Rutter. Patsy's father believes that the arcade is corrupting the minds of the local youth and he wants the arcade shut down for good. Mr. Rutter enlists the help of Jefferson Bailey's video game nemesis King Vidiot in a winner take all video game showdown. Will the employees and patrons allow the arcade to be shut down? Can Jefferson defeat King Vidiot in the final showdown? Joysticks is 86 minutes of mindless fun with some gratuitous T & A and full frontal nudity thrown in for good measure. Enjoy!

This review is for the Scorpion Releasing 30th anniversary DVD edition of "Joysticks" It states that "Joysticks" is being presented in widescreen for the first time from a brand new master from the original vault elements. I'm not an expert on video remastering or video restoration but I can say that this new video transfer is far from perfect but still viewable. The new print still contains grain, speckling and picture debris such as lines and scratches; so maybe this is the best the original video elements could be cleaned up for this release. Overall I think Scorpion Releasing did a pretty good job with this release and I'm happy to add this DVD to my collection.

If you are a fan of 80s cheese, arcade clichés, and occasional gratuitous, lighthearted toplessness, then this is the film for you! I was fortunate enough to find this gem as a VHS rental many years ago and instantly fell in love with it. Since then, I've gone out of my way to acquire multiple copies of it in several formats, as it's become the quintessential "drinking movie" romp of choice for my husband and me. Joysticks successfully captures the excitement of arcade gaming's golden years and the culture of teenage escapism and rebellion it represented. Throw in great cast chemistry, some charmingly bad acting, and a killer soundtrack (Jensen Farley Pictures: shut up and take my money!), and you’ve got one stellar cinematic time capsule.

For anyone that remembers the 80's and the arcades or anyone that loves the classic games or anything from the 80's this is a must see. It's been remastered and looks great. Brought back a lot of fond memories.